{"id":4673,"date":"2019-11-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media4democracy.org\/en\/yekta-gungor-on-ataturk\/"},"modified":"2019-11-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-10T00:00:00","slug":"yekta-gungor-on-ataturk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media4democracy.org\/en\/yekta-gungor-on-ataturk\/","title":{"rendered":"Yekta G\u00fcng\u00f6r \u201cOn Atat\u00fcrk\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAZ AKMAN – <\/em><\/strong>Former President of the Constitutional Court Lawyer and Honorary member of the Association of Journalists Yekta G\u00fcng\u00f6r \u00d6zden talked about our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk on the 81st<\/sup> anniversary of his death, at the Press House in Ankara.<\/strong> Implemented by the Association of Journalists and financed by the European Union (EU) \u201cMedia for Democracy\/Democracy for Media Programme\u201d (M4D) hosted \u00d6zden at the Press House to talk about his experience as one of the ten people that were involved in transferring the remains of Atat\u00fcrk from the Ethnography Museum to An\u0131tkabir.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bilgin \u201cI am honoured to present you the greatest Ataturkist I know\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nChairman of the Association of Journalists Nazmi Bilgin introduced \u00d6zden with the following words: \u201cIt would take me a very long time to properly introduce Mr. \u00d6zden to you all. He is one of the greatest references of my life. He is also a very important asset of our Association. He has stood by the side of many chairmen of our Association, alongside mine, as well. He has also acted as a legal consultant for us. He has never compromised his dignified stance. We will be forever indebted to Mr. \u00d6zden for his contributions. Today is November 10th<\/sup>… Today we commemorate the loss of our Great Leader once again. We will continue to commemorate our great leader as long as the Republic of Turkey prevails. In addition to all his important duties, Mr. \u00d6zden was one of the ten students who attended the ceremony on behalf of Turkish youth to bring Atat\u00fcrk's body from the Ethnographic Museum to An\u0131tkabir. I am honored to present Yekta G\u00fcng\u00f6r \u00d6zden, the greatest Ataturkist I know, who served as the president of the Constitutional Court for seven years. \u201d
\n\u00d6zden started his speech by reminding the audience of the important reforms conducted under Atat\u00fcrk \u201cFriendship is very important to me, Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk is the eternal friend of the people of Turkey. Atat\u00fcrk is the light and fire in our hearts and brains. Not only Turkey but the whole world knows the value of Atat\u00fcrk. Indeed, that is why there are statues of Atat\u00fcrk in 56 countries around the world. \u201c
\n\u201cA Republican life for millions\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\n\u00d6zden told about Atat\u00fcrk's encounter on the way to the proclamation of the Republic from a historical perspective and said:
\n\u201cAtat\u00fcrk had resigned from the Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m Army Group <\/em>and arrived in Ankara coming from Adana. Atat\u00fcrk was the guest of Governor Naz\u0131m Bey in Adana. During a meal, Atat\u00fcrk stated that Turkey\u2019s salvation lied in a new structure and order, to which Governor Naz\u0131m Bey responded \u201cBut Pasha, what more do you want? Our Sultan is in charge and so is the grand vizier. Is there a better land than ours?\u201d Atat\u00fcrk retorted \u201cNo, the salvation of the Turkish nation is in the Republic.\u201d Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s march from Samsun in 1919, and the proclamation of the Amasya Circular showed his decisiveness to realize his goals. Following the Erzurum Congress and the Sivas Congress, in an environment where everyone was calling for the sultan, the founding of the Grand National Assembly was not only significant for our political history but it was a big step in the national struggle. Ever since his youth, Atat\u00fcrk knew that the salvation of Turks lied in changing the system. As you all know, Atat\u00fcrk received the rank of general after the 22-day and 22-night war in Sakarya during the national War of Independence he started. After the Dardanelles Wars, he was honoured with a medal by Enver Pasha. However, after the Battle of Sakarya, he became general of the army. After \"\"winning the war, Refet Pasha and his friends were suspicious of Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s activities. 'Are you planning to proclaim a republic?' they said. Atat\u00fcrk wrote on his pack of cigarettes, 'Everything will be known when the day comes.' Indeed, as you all know on the night that connected October 28, October 29, during the \u00c7ankaya meeting with \u0130smet \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc Atat\u00fcrk said \u201cTomorrow we proclaim the Republic.\u201d After the proclamation of the Republic in 1923, despite the country being ravaged by poverty Atat\u00fcrk was able to carry through this difficult time without owing a cent to foreign powers and even paying off Ottoman debts acquired through the Treaty of Lausanne.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest source of pride is to be a child of Mustafa Kemal \u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\n\u201cThe liberation of a country, the restructuring of that country means the realization of very important programmes, not only politically but also economically and socially. Imagine building a country out of nothing and making that country one of the most respected states in the world. After all that, being able to unite citizens under one flag and one ideal. One cannot imagine fitting all these achievements into one life time. Look at his contributions to the youth, his leadership. His attitude to university students, his relations with his adopted children, these are all very important things. I was the lawyer of Sabiha G\u00f6k\u00e7en. I also got to know \u00dclk\u00fc quite closely. I say this again today, my biggest source of pride is to be a child of Mustafa Kemal. To me, he is the sun that never sets over Turkey.\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

15 years after his death, his face was still the same<\/em><\/strong>
\n\u00d6zden was among the 10 people, and the only one that is currently alive, to have participated in the transfer of Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s body on 10 November 1953. \u00d6zden said, \u201cI want to also talk about transferring Atat\u00fcrk from the Ethnography Museum to An\u0131tkabir in 1953. The coffin was opened in the Ethnography Museum, a steel coffin was removed from it, it was then cut with a steel saw and the coffin was opened. At that instance I saw Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s face. Even 15 years after his death, his face was still the same. It was as though he would open his eyes any moment… His handsome face looked as though he was peacefully sleeping.\u201d
\n\u201cWe saw Atat\u00fcrk wrapped in a white shroud\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\n\u00d6zden continued, \u201cThe year was 1953. I was the chairman of the Publication Commission of the National Students Federation. On October 29, they had chosen me to manage the opening of the statue in front of the Faculty of Agriculture in D\u0131\u015fkap\u0131. We did the opening. Then we received an invitation from the Prime Ministry through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They said they gave my name to represent the youth in removing Atat\u00fcrk from his temporary tomb to be buried in An\u0131tkabir. Since there was no cold storage in those years, they had buried Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s body eight meters in the ground to preserve his body in the Ethnographic Museum. I had a red ribbon on my arm indicating I was on duty. I saw the moment when the marble of the Ethnographic Museum was broken to allow the crane to go down to remove the coffin. They cut the centre of the museum from four corners and removed the marble. Then the crane went down. The coffin was slowly removed. There were four yellow rings on either side. These rings were sparkling, as if they had been unaffected by all those years. It was said that the coffin was made of Italian cherry or linden wood. It was mouldy. The flag was removed as soon as the coffin came out. They pulled the coffin to the left. Students of the Girls Technical Teacher School started cleaning the coffin. They removed the flag and brought a new flag. The coffin was opened. A shiny silver coffin came out of it. They took that coffin and cut one third of it. We saw Atat\u00fcrk wrapped in a white shroud. Dr. Mrs. Kamile opened the cloth to show his face. He hadn\u2019t shut has eyes tight, it was though as he would open his eyes any moment. His handsome face was so peaceful, as though he had shaved the previous night. If I remember correctly, his left eyebrow seemed to have sunken a little bit. There was no deterioration in Atat\u00fcrk's body, they just closed it and put the body in a new steel coffin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter putting the coffin in the ground I realized that Atat\u00fcrk would never be coming back\u201d<\/em><\/strong>
\nFrom the Ethnography Museum, cannon cart at front, the band behind us we started the march. The only two things you could hear were the marching of the soldiers and the sounds of people sobbing. I noticed that nobody from \u0130n\u00f6n\u00fc\u2019s delegation was making a sound, then we finally made it to An\u0131tkabir. The coffin was lowered from the cannon carriage, and was first placed in a section in front of An\u0131tkabir. President Celal Bayar made a very nice speech and said 'To love you is a national worship'. The soldiers carried the coffin on their shoulders to the beginning of Asl\u0131nl\u0131 Road and placed the coffin on the catafalque. From here the coffin was lowered from the mausoleum to the burial chamber. In this room, President Bayar, Parliament Speaker Refik Koraltan, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, Interior Minister Nam\u0131k Gedik, Ankara Governor Kemal Ayg\u00fcn, Atat\u00fcrk's last general secretary who came from America for this ceremony Hasan R\u0131za Soyak, Atat\u00fcrk's adoptive son Abdurrahim Tuncak, General Staff President Nuri Yamut, Atat\u00fcrk's sister Makbule Atadan and I were there. Along with a few soldiers there were a total of ten people. The coffin was lowered to the grave by a steel crane. We laid soil with our hands. Earth brought from Thessalonica, Cyprus and all around Turkey was sprinkled over the coffin. Makbule Han\u0131m burst into tears during the burial ceremony, I lent her my arm. When I returned to my dorm I started sobbing. I had truly believed until then that Atat\u00fcrk would return one day but I understood that Atat\u00fcrk would never be coming back. That great deprivation, that great distance, that great pain drowned made me burst into tears.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAZ AKMAN – Former President of the Constitutional Court Lawyer and Honorary member of the Association of Journalists Yekta Güngör […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-events","9":"post-with-thumbnail","10":"post-with-thumbnail-large"},"yoast_head":"\nYekta G\u00fcng\u00f6r \u201cOn Atat\u00fcrk\u201d - M4D Project<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/media4democracy.org\/en\/yekta-gungor-on-ataturk\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"tr_TR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yekta G\u00fcng\u00f6r \u201cOn Atat\u00fcrk\u201d - 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